Sitka holds out hope for private passenger ferries

State ferry service between Stika and Juneau isn’t scheduled to resume until mid-April. But officials in Sitka hope the state will follow through with plans for interim ferry service before then.

In February, the DOT contracted Allen Marine to provide limited passenger ferry service to several villages including Hoonah and Tenakee Springs.

About half the contract’s value — nearly $11,000 — was for a passenger ferry between Sitka and Juneau. The DOT, however, never scheduled the Sitka run.

In response to an inquiry from CoastAlaska, DOT officials said “the community declined service” in a Tuesday statement.

“This was an option,” DOT spokeswoman Meadow Bailey wrote, “but the community of Sitka opted out in favor of air travel.”

Not so, say Sitka’s city officials.

“Sitka is interested in exploring options for ferry travel while the Alaska Marine Highway System is down,” Sitka City Administrator John Leach said Thursday.

He says the city was never consulted. He’s since reached out to the transportation agency for clarification.

And it all came down to crossed wires over a regional sports tournament.

“The misunderstanding happened when our local basketball team was contacted about ferry travel under the Gold Medal program,” Leach said. “And they already had travel arranged for their trip to get there by air.”

As of Thursday, state transportation officials have not commented on the misunderstanding.

In a follow up email, Bailey wrote that DOT will “reach out” to explore the option of interim service to Sitka.

Allen Marine’s first scheduled charter run between Juneau and the smaller communities was on February 29. It served about 30 passengers.

The region has been without regular ferry service since the state ferry Matanuska broke down in mid-January.